Finding Out
by Ferny1F
Summary: When you have strange neighbors, who could resist snooping around?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a story that I wrote a while ago and I thought I would post since people are liking my Enemy Desire's story. This one takes place more in Briar Creek than that one, but still no Mare. sorry. Yes, the character of the girl has the same name as the one in enemy desires. I need to change that. I decided to post this one because it's done, and I can update it more if people like it.  
**

**Disclaimer: nothing belongs to me, it all belongs to LJ smith :)  
**

There was something fishy about my new neighbors. For one, they were awfully young to be living alone, two, they were just too perfect looking, and three, they acted weird. Weirder than the norm. There was three of them, all girls, all beautiful. Their names were Rowan, Kestrel, and Jade. I heard them talking about their so called brother, Ash, one day. From what I heard, they were runaways or whatever and they were worried about their brother finding out where they were. Odd. Why would they care about their brother finding them?

Me being the nosey person I am, and one for an adventure, I followed them one night through the woods when they went for a "nightly walk". I usually wasn't one to go out in the woods at night but this was for a good cause. These sisters could be serial killers or something!

It was almost pitch black out here. The only light was the light coming from the sisters' flashlight. I wasn't scared. Well, I was, but only when I heard something rustle behind me in the dark. I hoped they wouldn't look back and see me. I thought I was being pretty quiet though.

Well, until someone came up from behind me and grabbed me. I screamed, but a hand covered up my mouth before I could get even get a sound out, so it was muffled.

I struggled against the hold around my arms. Whoever it was, they were strong! We both ended up on the ground, wrestling each other.

"Ash! What are you doing?" came a high pitched girly voice that I knew as Jades. The wrestling stopped and all of a sudden, no one was on top of me. I breathed hard and stood up. I weighed my chances of escaping, but they could probably get me because they had a flashlight and I had my inability to see in the dark.

"I'm looking for you three and apparently, so was this girl right here," the person named Ash said.

"What were you following us for?" Jade asked, turning the flashlight on me.

"Um," was all I could say.

"Hey, you're our neighbor!" this was Rowan.

"I am," I said.

"Why were you following my sisters?" Ash said.

"Why were you following your sisters and why are they so afraid of you?" I challenged.

"I don't think that's any of your business."

"I'll make it my business."

"I don't think you will. You don't look like you have the guts," he said to me before addressing his sisters. "Now for you three, how much does this human know?"

"I don't know," Rowan said. "We didn't even know she was following us." They were saying this like I wasn't even there.

"Um, I'm right here you know." They ignored me.

"You know the rules if she knows anything," Ash said.

"Know anything about _what?_" I asked irritably.

"What we are," Jade said sweetly.

"What do you mean 'what we are'?" I asked.

"Never mind that. You need to go away and we need to talk," Ash said, interrupting whatever Jade was going to say next.

"I'm not going away. I refuse."

"Too bad."

"That's what you think."

"Oh really? And who do you thinks the stronger person here?" he said tauntingly.

"Certainly not you," I taunted back.

"We'll just see about that," he said and then very dramatically practically making a show of it, pinned me against a tree with my wrists above me head. A funny feeling was going through my wrists and down my arms and I blamed it on the fact that his hand was pinching a nerve in my wrist. I guess he was pretty strong. I tried to ignore it and concentrate on the face in front of me.

I couldn't really make out much of his face because it was dark and I wasn't a superhuman who had night version. I could tell his face was reallllly close to mine though. I glared at him and ignored the urge I had to spit in his face.

"Now who's stronger?" he teased.

"Let me go," I growled.

"And why should I? I have no reason to let you go. It's not like you can get away on your own."

"Oh yeah?" I said and since my leg was free, kneed him right in the balls. He made a really painful sounding noise and released my wrists and dropped to his knees, holding his gentlemen's area.

"Thought I couldn't get away on my own?" I said, taunting him while he was vulnerable.

"I think you should go now, Ashlie," Jade said, coming over to me.

"I can't see to get back," I said, giving up on finding out anything because I would try again later.

"Here," she handed me the flashlight. "Take this, we don't need it."

"Yes you do."

"No we don't. Trust me. Just go." I glared at her but turned around and made my way out of the woods. Even thought it was dark, the flashlight beam was enough for me to find my way back because I knew these woods like the back of my hand.

So I was back home now, in the house, in my room, laying in my bed thinking about the nights events. The sisters were runaways, and they were scared of their brother who was now here to get them back but they obviously didn't want to go back. But why? And what's this big secret they all seem to have? Looked like some major detective work was in order, but for now, I was going to sleep because it was late and I was tired. It could wait until the morning.

The next morning was dull. The normal happened. I ate breakfast, got dressed and sat around planning some scheme. Well, really I thought about what I was going to do about finding this big secret. But first, I needed to walk around town and get supplies.

I was walking around town, minding my own business when I heard a familiar voice. Ash's voice. The brother. I didn't know what he looked like so I couldn't tell who he was even if I looked around. Plus there was too many people standing around talking. But I didn't have to look for him because he found me. Somehow.

"I hope you're not sneaking around spying on my sisters again," he hissed into my ear when he walked up to me.

"Hm, nope, that's my night job." He rolled his eyes and jerked me into an abandoned ally. I knew this ally and knew the history. Creepy guys brought girls here in the middle of the night and raped them. Everyone who had brains stayed away from it and now here I was in it with a guy.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked. I finally got a good look at his face and body for that matter. All I can say is daaaaaaaaaaamn.

His hair was longish and was ash blonde in color. Ironic since his name was Ash. He was tall, lanky (with some amazing long legs) and elegant. Gorgeous body. He had clean cut features. He was wearing a rocker t-shirt and a pair of nice fitting jeans. His shoes? They were a pair of black chucks. I bet if I could see his butt, it would be a nice butt.

I noticed his eyes. His eyes were dark, not quite black, but dark. And he had a strange look on his face, it almost like he was….tempted. Tempted about what?

"What do you think I'm doing?" he said.

"Being creepy? Because if that's what you're doing, you're doing a pretty good job of it." He came closer to me and put both hands on either side of my head, keeping me stuck against him and the wall. His face was blank now. God this guy was moody! And sexy.

"I can do a pretty good job of a lot of things. I'm a man of many talents."

"Doubt it. I bet you're IQ's not even big enough to warm a couch seat." Ash smirked at me.

"What's your name anyway?"

"Like I'm really going to tell you my name."

"You are going to tell me," he said as he grabbed my wrists and again for the second time in a day, pinned my wrists above my head. The same feeling that I felt yesterday went through my wrists and down my arms but it wasn't because of a pinched nerve or anything because his hold on me wasn't _that _tight. Ash winced but his face quickly went blank again.

"Do you remember what happened the last time you did that?"

"Like I could forget. What is your name?"

"My name is Ashlie but most people tend to call me Ash. I have a funny feeling that's going to change now."

"You have a little attitude don't you?" he smirked.

"I can have. You never did tell me what you were doing. I answered your question now you have to answer mine."

"I'd like to tell you but I think you're going to find out," he said sweetly, which was a change because he was sounded cocky before.

"I don't think I am." And as if he could read my mind, he moved out of the way just as I went to bring my knee up. The grip on my wrists never faltered. Ash smiled at me and it was the most dazling smile I've ever seen in my life. It made him even more sexy. "We could keep doing this all day and we're never going to get anywhere so how about you tell me you and your sister's little secret?"

He laughed. "Like I'm going to tell you!"

"Why not? Oh, is it one of them cases of 'I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you' things? Because that's pretty grade school."

"Funny how accurate you are," he said, coming closer to me. "But I'm not going to tell you, you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I'd much rather enjoy playing with you." What. The. Hell. Now that was seriously creepy. Why did all the hot guys with a hot attitude have to be creepy? Not like I wanted him or anything, but he was hot.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh you'll see," he said, his face literally only inches from my face, our noses almost touching. There was something about this guy, something you couldn't really see, but you could sense it, I was sensing it. I was sensing he was dangerous but that was a load of crock.

One of his hands released my wrists and I could see it hovering by my face out of the corner of my eye. I eyed it carefully. "What? Are you scared?"

"No, more like cautious because you're really creepy."

"Creepy? I must disagree with you," he said calmly. Then his eyes changed color and he seemed to change his mind about whatever he was about to do because he let go of my wrists and my arms fell down to my sides. I slid slowly away from him. The expression on his face was puzzled and almost….shocked. I took the time to split and run back home.

I really wish I had got to figure the secret out, but I still had all day.

I came home and found a good male friend of mine talking it up to one of the secret sisters, Jade. The pretty blonde. They were awfully close and touchy feely with each other I noticed. So I walked over.

"Hey, Todd! I didn't know you and Jade talked to each other."

"Hey, Ashlie! Guess what? Me and Jade are going out now!" he said as he looked lovingly at Jade who looked at him the same way, only with a little bit more love. Out of all the sisters (excluding the brother) I think Jade was the weirdest. "Hey, Ash, can I talk to you for a minute, I have to tell you something."

"Um, sure." I took his arm and pulled him over somewhere away from Jade. "What is it?"

"So, Jade told me something but I'm not supposed to tell anyone but I can't keep a secret from you because you're my best friend," he said in a hushed voice.

"Ok what is it?" I said, getting excited. This was probably the big secret!

"I know this is going to sound insane but I'm serious this is what she told me and I know it's true because _she _proved it."

"Todd, just tell me what it is. It can't be that crazy."

"It is believe me, but ok," his voice dropped down to a really low whisper so that I had to lean in closer to hear him. "Jade and her sisters? They're vampires! No lie! She proved it to me! Showed me her fangs and everything. It's true, Ash! There's this thing called Night World and that's what they all belong to."

"Nu uh, you're yanking my chain." There was no way they were vampires. Vampires weren't real. But it would explain how they could see in the dark, and how crazy pretty they were….and how weird they acted…Holy crap…maybe they were vampires!

"Like I said, I wasn't supposed to say anything but it's true!"

"Well, it does explain a lot of things…."

"So you believe me?"

"Yes." Todd grinned at me.

"Ok, but don't say anything to Jade."

"I.. won't. But I have to go do something, I'll talk to you later."

"Ok, see ya!"

"Be careful," I said as I walked inside the house. Wow. Vampires were real. Who would of thought a mythical creature would be real! Well well well. At least I knew their big secret now. I grinned triumphantly to myself. I walked up the stairs to my bedroom.

As I walked into my bedroom, I jumped and screamed. Kestrel was in my room. One of the vampires. She quickly, inhumanly quickly might I add, came over and clamped her hand over my mouth.

"You know."

"Know what?!" I asked when she took her hand off my mouth.

"What we are."

"How do you know that?!"

"I'm a vampire, I also have vampire hearing. I heard Todd tell you."

"How?!" Kestrel sighed.

"We've already broken so many rules, might as well break more. It's not like it matters anyway."

"What are you talking about?!"

"In our world, night world, it's illegal to fall in love with a human, and Jade's fallen in love with Todd. He's her soul mate and vise versa."

"Wait, what? Soul mates? You're kidding right?"

"No but anyway, if you break that law, you die. Both human and vampire. It's also illegal to tell a human the secret. Which Jade has done by telling Todd and then Todd told you. So if anyone from night world authority finds out, we're all dead."

"That's the stupidest thing I've heard in my life. And this is all crazy! It can't be real!"

"Want me to prove it?" she said savagely.

"No," I said quickly.

"I can read your mind, I know you believe it's true."

"So? How's your little night world authority going to find out we know clear out here? We live in the middle of nowhere."

"Our brother. Ash. He's here to take us back home and we're not going. He's practically night world authority and he can and _will _tell someone without a second glance. He's just that self centered. And if he don't tell someone, he'll take care of it himself. Anything to protect the family honor and keep law with night world. He's that self centered."

"And how's he going to find out?"

"He has his ways. I'm just saying, watch your back. When push comes to shove, it's every man, or human for that matter, for themselves if they know."

"I can take care of myself." Kestrel looked me over for a minute.

"I don't doubt that. I'll see you around. Be careful out there," she said before gracefully walking out the door. I began to wonder what I was going to do now that I didn't have to spy on the secret sisters.

So what did I do? I kept spying on them. Why? Because the lack of life I had. Nothing really interesting happened, except well, Ash kept popping up at their house. Eventually my curiosity got the best of me and I went on over to the secret sisters house convientley while Ash was over there.

I didn't even bother knocking when I went in because I knew Todd was over there because I saw him go in not to long ago. Ash's back was to me when I walked in and my earlier speculations about him having a nice butt was confirmed. No, nice isn't the word for it. He had a sexy butt. I cleared my throat to hold off a laugh the was bubbling up. He turned around.

"Do you _always _show up uninvited?"

"Yep. It's a past time of mine. Do you always try to get people to do what you want?" I countered.

"I don't have to try. People offer to do things for me."

"Couldn't imagine why." Ash gave me a look.

"Oh please, don't act like you'd be any different."

"How do you know?"

"Because I do know."

"You wouldn't know smart if you had it."

"Can't argue with that logic."

"Ha. I win." I looked at his eyes and they were golden hazel, not dark like they were the first time I saw him. He turned back to his sisters.

"Why does she know?"

"Know what? I don't know what you're talking about?" Kestrel said calmly.

"You know what I'm talking about. All three of you do. Why does she know?"

"Todd here told her," Jade said, sitting in Todd's lap.

"Because you're soul mates, yeah I get that, but why did he tell her?" he asked again, jerking his head back towards me.

"Because she's my best friend and we have no secrets," Todd said.

"That's the dumbest thing I've heard all day. You all know what can and will happen."

"It'll only happen if they find out or if you do something about it yourself, which, now I doubt you will take care of it yourself." Kestrel said, smiling at Ash.

"And why do you say that? You know me and you know I will."

"No you won't," Kestrel said matter of factly.

"Why?"

"Because that would mean killing your soul mate," she said softly.

"Like I care about her," he said and I could almost hear him rolling his eyes. "Besides the soul mate principals a load of horse crap anyway. That's just in peoples' head. Besides there's still the matter of you three coming home."

"We already told you, Ash, we're not coming home!" Kestrel said.

"Quinn's going to be here in a week to make sure I took care of it and that means you three _going home_. If you don't go, we're all in trouble and that means your little human toys too!" He turned around and stormed out the door. Me being stupid and nosey and quite possibly an instigator, I turned and followed him.

"You really need to get over yourself, you know that right?" I said when I saw him leaning against a tree in the yard.

"And you really need to keep your nose in your own business."

"That's just the problem, I can't. Not when there's interesting business to be poking around in. And can anyone resist poking around in vampire business?"

"They can if they don't know," he growled. I rolled my eyes, not intimidated at all.

"Is it my fault that I know?"

"Yes."

"No it's not. It's Todd's," I smirked. Ash looked over at me and rolled his eyes. His eyes were the color of ambers now. From what I could tell, he had them eyes that changed colors. Hmm. Cool.

"You humans don't know what you got yourself into."

"You know, you're a strange one, Ash. You're so stuck up all you can think about is yourself and what's good for you and you don't care about anyone else because you only care about you."

"It's a tough life, you have to care about yourself."

"You care about yourself too much," I said calmly but my anger was rising because even though I barely knew this guy I could tell he was one of them guys that were stuck on themselves. "You don't even care that your sisters don't want to go home! I'm sure they had a good reason for leaving and you don't care when you should."

Ash never said anything and starred at me. I kept going.

"You have to be the center of everything don't you? No don't answer that, I already know you do. Why can't you just think of someone _else _for once? And you hate humans for what reason? What have they ever done to you? I bet they ain't done nothing. You're such a ladies man that you use that to your advantage when you want to seduce and play with human girls, doing god knows what to them. You have a problem and you need help."

"Someone's got nerve saying that to someone who can kill them in a heartbeat."

"But you wont, like your sister said. You don't have the nerve to."

"Do you have any idea what I'm capable of?"

"You're a vampire, you're capable of a lot of things. But that don't scare me."

"You really are crazy."

"How can anyone be scared of a ladies man like you?"

"Anyone who knows me." I rolled my eyes. Oh please. I started to walk off. "Wait."

"What?" I kept walking.

"You got guts."

"I know." I walked inside my house and laughed. I just told off a vampire and lived. Go me!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm making this three chapters. We have some drama coming up =)**

**Disclaimer: night world belongs to lj smith  
**

The rest of my day was uneventful. I mostly sat around the house and did nothing. That night, I decided to go to the movies to see Star Trek because Star Trek was awesome.

So that's what I did. The movie was awesome just like it looked but it had a lot more humor than the original series did. And they changed they famous saying from "To boldly go where no man has go before" to "To boldly go where no one has gone before" so I was going home mad because they can't just change it! What kind of person would do that? That's not a true fan!

As I was walking home, because I didn't like driving on our roads, I got the feeling I was being watched or followed, and that was the most uncomfortable feeling ever because you never knew if it was true or not.

I looked around and didn't see anyone that looked suspicious but that never meant anything. Most of the time people didn't look suspicious and then BAM, the girl ends up raped or murdered or something horrible like that. Cliché but whatever it's true.

The street I was on had lots of ally's but they weren't like the trashy rape ally. They were the friendly ally's where boys took girls to make out or something along them lines. But when you feel like you're being followed, you never like an ally.

I was walking by one of them ally's when someone came out of the crowd and dragged me in the ally and out of the crowd. I tried to scream but whoever it was hand their hand over my mouth. There was something particular about the feeling swarming around my head. It was familiar. It was that tingly feeling that I got when Ash grabbed my wrists them two times. Ash. Not again!

I bit his hand. "Ouch! What was that for!"

"For grabbing me! Why are you following me?!" I shouted.

"Shh! I'm not following you now shut up and keep quiet!" He tried to grab me but I moved away.

"No! Why are you following me?!"

"If you keep quiet I'll tell you! But I need you to be quiet and cooperate!" I crossed my arms and glared at him but I kept quiet and he seemed to be listening for something. Couldn't imagine what. Before I knew it, Ash had grabbed me and pinned me against the wall with his hand over my mouth again. "Shh, just cooperate for once in your life." He sounded serious so I did. There was a little bit of light from the street lights shinning in the ally and it was enough for me to see his face.

He looked concerned and alert. He was tense. And his eyes seemed like they couldn't settle on one color. After what felt like forever, he finally relaxed and let my mouth go and I was free to spout my mouth as I pleased. He only backed away a few inches, and he was still pretty close.

"Now tell me, what was that for?" I asked, annoyed.

"You were being followed."

"I know, by you, why?"

"It wasn't me! It was just a coincidence that I picked up on you being followed!" he said quickly. "Just let me explain!"

"Alright, go, you got one minute," I said and looked at my watch.

"You were being followed, but not by me, by some strong authority figures from my world."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know them people and what they look like. I read their thoughts and they know you know and they were looking for you, and they found you, so they were following you," he explained quickly.

"Why were you following me?"

"I wasn't! I only…" he trailed off.

"Well go on," I persisted.

"I wasn't following you ok? It's only a big ironic coincidence that I was around."

"Wait," I said, finally figuring it out. "You just saved my life." I saw his eyes drop to the ground.

"I helped prolong your life, not save it," he said.

"You still saved my life, why? You could of let them kill me and it would eliminated me from being a problem but you didn't! You were protecting me."

Ash sighed. "I'm protecting you because I realize that Kestrel was right. About you being my soul mate. I may not like it but I don't want anything happening to you until I figure it out."

"I thought you didn't believe in all that soul mate stuff?"

"It's hard not to believe it when every time I touch you, it feels like electricity going through my arm. Don't tell me you don't feel it too because you do."

"So what? You're only prolonging my life because I'm your so called soul mate and you want to figure it out and when you do, then what? You let me die? Because you know, that makes a whole lick of sense."

"I never said I wanted you to die," he said quietly. "Besides, they wouldn't kill you nicely." I rolled my eyes.

"Can I go home now?"

"Go ahead, just watch your back."

"And you better watch yours too," I unnecessarily threatened. "Wait, what about Todd?" I asked because Todd knew too and if they found me and knew that I knew, they had to know about Todd.

"Todd's got Jade, Kestrel and Rowan protecting him. You don't need to worry." I wasn't so sure, but I walked out of the ally and into the brightly lit streets. I looked back over my shoulder and saw Ash still standing there, looking miserable and vulnerable. I shrugged and walked home.

I didn't sleep very good that night. I dreamt of vampires and not good thing's about them either. I also dreamt of Ash. But I forgot about that when I woke up the next morning. The only reason I woke up the next morning because Todd came over and woke me up and asked me to come over to Jade's house. I grudgingly got up and did. Ash was there.

"So, we have a problem here," Rowan said when I walked in. "Night world authority is tracking down these two. They already attempted to get ahold of one last night but thanks to Mr. Ash here, that was averted," she added smugly. "What are we going to do?"

"Claim they don't know anything? It is possible for them to shield their minds. Simple," Jade suggested, standing by Todd protectively.

"But they already know about you and Todd, Jade. You can't hide that," Rowan said.

"What they don't know about is Ash and Ashlie. So we could probably protect her," Kestrel added. Ash glanced at me.

"If push comes to shove, we can always run away from here," Ash said. Everyone turned and looked at him.

"We?" Rowan asked.

"I meant you guys," he said quickly. "As in you, Kestrel, Jade and Todd."

"And what about you?"

"Me? I'll make up something about where you guys went and then go home."

"Oh you are so thick Ash, I'm not stupid, I can see how much you've changed since you realized that Ashlie, a human girl, is your soul mate. You care now. You may not see it or want to admit it, but it's true, Ash. Maybe you'll realize one day that you're still the kid you used to be," she said sourly. Everyone looked at Ash and starred at him. He did seem to of changed. A little. He cared what happened to his sisters and possibly me.

"That's not important right now," he said, shrugging off what she had said.

Needless to say, I was at the Redfern's house all day helping them come up with plans and what not. And learning to shield your mind but that's an ordeal we'll leave out.

I was out in the backyard when Ash came out. "Rowans right. I have changed," he said. "I don't want to admit it but I _am _changing."

"Why are you telling me for?"

"Because I think you should know."

"Why would I care?"

"You shouldn't be out here alone either."

"Since when do you care?"

"I told you I was changing. It's difficult because I've always thought of humans as-"

"Play things and food. I know."

"The thing is though, since I met you, you're the reason I'm changing, and I know this is going to sound pathetic and weird, but I seem to love you sort of desperately," he said, kicking at some dirt on the ground.

"You sound pathetic."

"I know. But I can't help it. I've tried to get rid of the….feelings I have for you but nothing worked."

"It's not very flattering to have someone tell you they love you against their will and character so I advise you to shut up."

"It's true though. You know it."

"Well I didn't ask for any of this soul mate crap. I hate you, you hate me. End of story. We're wrong for each other and what ever higher force deals with this stuff is stupid to make us soul mates."

"We're more alike than you think."

"Oh yeah? How?"

"For one, we're both sarcastic. And we both keep denying the fact that this thing between us is real."

"We're nothing alike. Both physically and mentally."

"Yes we are. You're tall, I'm tall. You're lanky, I'm lanky."

"That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean then?"

"I meant you're stronger and faster than me. We're not on an equal level. There's no way to deal with you on an equal level."

"If you had wood, you could." I rolled my eyes. "You could get rid of me with one good push to the heart." He walked over to a tree and broke off a branch and handed it to me.

"And you would let me kill you without a fight?"

"Yes."

"You're lying."

"I'm not." I wanted to test him, so I pushed the stick against his chest, near his heart. He didn't make any move to stop me so I pushed _him _against a tree and held him gently there with the stick. "I actually only meant if you were serious," he said, swallowing hard.

"Now look who's pinned against a tree," I teased.

"That can change in a heart beat." As if to prove his point, he knocked the stick out of my hand and practically slammed me against the tree. "See? Unlike you, I can get out of situations easily." This seemed to be a recurring theme. Him pinning me against some object. It was kind of sexy. I glared at him.

"That's not fair."

"Life's not fair,"' he teased. "You see? If you would except the fact that we're completely right for each other, we wouldn't have to go through this."

"Maybe it's funner to go through this," I stated, regretting it as soon as it came out of my mouth.

"So it's only an act."

"Just like you're whole life's been an act. Like Rowan was saying. You never used to be like this, you were. It's a cover to hide how scared you are, I can tell even though I barely know you. You're still that way," I said looking him straight in the eyes since he wasn't very far from my face….again.

"Don't bet on it," he said, flashing a mouth dropping smile. I rolled my eyes.

A rustling came from the bushes behind us and Ash was instantly all predator like and protective and was growling at whatever it was. Actual growling. Not like someone imitating a growl. A _real _growl like a dog.

"Get away," he growled at whatever it was. Whatever it was, it was human. Or.. vampire because it laughed.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: It's done, this is the last bit. I hope you like it, I was quite proud of the end scene even if it is a little bit random, but I had a little Cheeto obbsession going on around this time :) Don't be afraid to review, I love them!  
**

**Disclaimer: I own notihng, LJ Smith does  
**

"I never thought I'd live to see the day that Ash Redfern protects a human," the mystery person said.

"Get away, she knows nothing. You have no reason to be here."

"Then why are you so protective of her if you have nothing to hide?" Hm, this person was smart. The person stepped out of the shadows of the trees. Ash grabbed me and shoved me behind his back.

"Because I know how you are, Quinn."

"That still don't explain why exactly you're protecting that human girl behind your back." I saw him lean to look at me and wiggle his fingers at me. I couldn't really see what he looked like because it was kind of dark outside.

"She's my next toy," he said.

"You don't get this protective over your toys. Don't tell me she's your soul mate?"

"She's not," he said a little bit too quickly. Quinn laughed.

"She's not too good at shielding her mind, is she? She knows and you two are soul mates. You can't hide anything from me, Ash."

"Just go away and pretend none of this ever happened."

"Oh but I can't just do that now can I? You know the law and you've broke that law. You were person I'd least expect to do that. I might be able to let you go though, but the girl…"

"You're not going to touch her," Ash threatened. Ok so I knew Ash was changing but that quick? He was ready to defend and fight for me? He wasn't going to risk my life to save his. He really had changed.

"Don't even think about trying anything. You know who'll win."

"I know you will, only because you're a cheater. But that don't mean I don't have tricks up my sleeve."

"What are you even doing here? You wasn't supposed to be here until next Tuesday."

"I'm only here to take care of the humans. And since one of them is here now, vulnerable, I think I'll take care of her now."

A lot of things happened at once. Ash ran towards Quinn, Quinn moved out of his way and towards me and I was all of a sudden on the ground with a vampire sent out to kill me on top of me. It all happened very fast and it was shocking. So needless to say, I was stuck on the ground with a blood sucking vampire on me and no way to fight back. Even though I knew it was no good, I struggled.

"It's a shame I have to kill you, I would of loved to have some fun with you before I had to," Quinn said. I spit in his face, not ignoring the urge like I had with Ash.

Quinn was pale with black hair and dark eyelashes. He had clean features that were strongly chiseled but delicate almost. He had a sensuous mouth. His body was smooth, with flat muscles. His eyes were dark and empty and full of hatred. It was scary.

Then his face changed. His eyes flared and his entire face took on a predatory look. I hardly noticed that, what I noticed the most was his teeth. They weren't teeth, exactly, they were _fangs_. They looked like canines you see on a cat. Elongated and curving, ending in delicate piercing points. These weren't fake. These were real and they were dangerous.

I screamed as he came down on my throat. It hurt. A lot. It didn't get any better, either. But a vampire was _sucking my blood_. I could see his memories, feel his emotions. They weren't bunnies and fluff. They were evil and scary. I saw him killing people, both humans and vampires, in the most brutal, painful ways. I saw him torturing young women, sucking people dry, everything. I could feel his emotions. Hatred and pleasure of his actions.

I was seriously getting weak, as one does when a _vampire is sucking their blood_. But…all of a sudden, no one was on top of me, but I felt about to pass out, I couldn't see anything, but that might have something to do with it being nighttime.

I heard struggling in the distance and a scream and then Ash's voice. He cursed. "You need blood! Oohhh man!" he said. I felt his hand on my cheek and I no longer felt week. I felt alive. But that's what you get when your soul mate touches you. "I'm sorry, but you….you're going to have to drink my blood."

"What?" I really felt alive now and I jumped away from him.

"You need blood! It's the only way! I know you feel fine, Ashlie but that's the adrenaline. Come here or I will force you." He didn't wait for me to come to him, he came to me.

"Alright, but that's seriously freaking weird! I don't want to _drink _you're blood!"

"Deal with it," he said as he bit into his own wrist, which looked really freaking painful, and drew blood. He held it up to my face and I looked at it in disgust. "Ashlie," he growled.

"Ok!" I carefully look his arm and put my lips to his wrist where the blood was coming out. It was like with Quinn, I could feel his emotions, and memories and everything. It wasn't nearly as bad as Quinn's. Ash was feeling afraid and ashamed of his past actions. I saw him using human girls and him partying it up with night world people. I also saw some things I won't mention, but they still weren't nearly as bad as Quinn's. And for that, I was thankful.

"Ok, I think you've had enough," Ash said as he extracted me from his wrist. "I thought for sure I was going to lose you."

"I thought you didn't care if I died?" I said.

"That was then, this is now. You have a little blood around your mouth," he said, amused. "Here," he said as he slipped his cool rocker t-shirt over his head. I noticed I could see a little better in the night now and could see Ash's body enough to get an idea of what it looked liked. From my interpratation, he had a damn fine body. Toned, muscular, but not all buff and nasty, a nice muscular.

He looped his arm through mine and yanked me easily over to him and wiped my face off. I felt like a helpless little kid. I didn't like it so I swatted his hand away. He laughed.

"You might have some vampire side affects after your little ordeal, but that'll go away in a few days."

"Is that why I can see you better in the dark now?"

"Might be," he teased.

"So it is?" I asked.

"Yep."

"Well I like what I see."

"Good."

Our ordeal was over. For now, there could always still be night world officials hanging around ready to take me or Todd out in a heart beat. But for now, we wasn't going to worry about that. We was going to worry about who got the last cheeto. Well, me and Ash were.

We were sitting on the couch, eating cheetos, even though vampires didn't eat human food, he was eating human food. So, the bowl of cheetos was sitting in between us when we both looked down. One cheeto left. We looked up at each other and then a fight broke out.

"It's mine!" I said.

"No, I do believe that cheeto belongs to me!" Ash said.

"You don't even eat people food! It's mine!" I growled. I was going to get that damn cheeto even if I killed me.

"I don't care it's still mine!" I growled at him and pounced, tackling him off the side of the couch and onto the floor. We wrestled around, biting and growling and kicking, doing everything in our power to get that last cheeto. Ash cheated.

How did he cheat? He used his strength to pin me. "Now who gets it?"

"That's not fair, Ash! You cheated!"

"Hey now, no one said we had to fight fairly." He jumped up off me and sprang to the couch, but I got there first and grabbed the cheeto bowl.

"Now who gets it?" I said as I stuffed into my mouth and chewed dramatically, rubbing it in. "Mmm, that was gooooood."

"You're cruel." This time, he pounced at me and tackled me onto the couch. I stuck my tounge out at him and licked his face so he'd back off. "Eww! Ashlie! That was gross."

"Then get off me."

"You know you like it," he purred."

"Get off me!" I laughed.

"Not unless you admit you like it," he said.

"Ok ok! I like it now get off me!"

"Thank you!" he gave me a quick kiss on the lips and sprang up. Even that quick moment of contact on the lips made my head spin.

Not too long after that, when things were all calm, I got crazy. Ash was sitting beside me, unexpecidly, and innocently, beside me when I all of a sudden tackled him off the couch.

"BIIIIITE ME, ASH!!!!!" I yelled as I tackled him. I sat on top of him and held him down with all my weight, not wanting him to get up.

"What are you talking about?! Have you actually lost your mind?!" he said, sounding a bit scared.

"Bite me, Ash! I wanna be a vampire!" I said crazily.

"What?! You are crazy! Fuck no! I can't bite you, Ashlie!" His eyes went from dark to amber.

"Pleeaaaaase!" I begged. "I want to be like you!"

"No! Absolutly not!"

"Ferny!" I said, using the nickname I thought up for him*. I knew he couldn't resist me when I called him that.

"Hey now! Don't go down that route!"

"But Ferny! Please! I wanna be a vampire! It's so cool and you're strong!"

"But then you wouldn't be fragile to me," he said sweetly, sitting up, making me roll off his stomach. He then pinned me for the second time that day.

"I'd rather not be fragile," I protested.

"You could probably kick my ass if you were a vampire."

"Good, then _this _wouldn't happen all the time!"

"Oh you love it when I'm on top of you." I licked his face again. "You are seriously disgusting," he said, laughing.

"So are you going to turn me into a vampire? If you do, I won't be as disgusting!"

"No! I refuse to turn you into a vampire!"

"Well why not?! James turned Poppy into a vampire!"

"Poppy was dying, you're clearly not dying."

"What if I was? What if I was on the brink of death and the only way to save me was to turn me into a vampire? Would you do it then?"

"Probably. I know what's going through that little scheming mind of yours! Don't you _dare try anything, I won't let you." _

"_I wasn't gonna." _

"_You was."_

"_Wasn't." Ash gave me a look. _

"_If you do try something like that, think of what it would do to me before you do it." I saw his eyes turn emerald green. "Even if I could save you when you was dying, it would still kill me inside to see you about to die."_

"_I know, but if I was a vampire, you wouldn't have to worry about me dying in some easy way like a human."_

"_Oh you are persistant, ain't you?"_

"_Yep!"_

"_Well the answer is no. End of story."_


End file.
